Academy City's Homeless Problem
Immortality_Tests_Start_Now
About 5 minutes ago, Hamazura Shiage had answered the door to the apartment where he and the old members of ITEM had lived. It hadn't taken him but a second to slam the door on seeing who it had been that knocked. Since then, he had been standing at the door debating whether or not to open it again. He decided to do it.
[Oh hey Zura-chan! Wasn't sure what happened when you shut the door but-]
Door slams back shut again.
"...Maybe he'll go away if I ignore him."
Kumagawa's muffled voice replies from the other side, [Nah! I don't have anywhere else to be see, so I'll camp out here on your doormat if necessary!]
He reopens the door.
"...What do you want man? Please don't tell me you pissed Accelerator off again."
[No! What do you take me for Zura-chan? I mean, he did kinda kick me out of his place I guess after WORST-chan and I put a girl's sailor uniform on him while he slept. You should have seen the look on his face!]
"No thank you. I'd rather keep my face where it's at if it's all the same to you."
[Your loss. Also mine. Never thought I'd find a kindred soul like WORST-chan here! We even came up with codenames for each other. I made up BEST-chan for her she gave me Senoir Screwball. She's the big sister that I never had.]
"That's great to hear that you found love in the big city, really, but-"
[How dare you Zura-chan! Our relationship is entirely wholesome and platonic! Though there was some skinship we technically delved into. Or rather that I technically delved into. We wanted to piss Accel-kun off by making him think we were a couple and then I grabbed those boobs of hers when I thought he wasn't buying it and OH MAN. After feeling those puppies is when I started calling her BEST-chan. And-]
"Does this have a point?! I want to hear you out but if all you're going to talk about is what you did to get kicked out of Accelerator's place then I'm shutting this door."
He slams the door yet another time. Except, it hadn't shut. There was a foot in the way.
[Ok! Ok! I'll skip right to it! I need a place to stay and since you said we're best friends and all-]
"HELL NO! You'll just molest the girls here and turn this place into a goddamn warzone!"
Hamazura tries to lean on the door to apply enough pressure to make Kumagawa relent but that is no way to get a Minus to quit.
[Come on! I'm desperate here! Enshuu-chan and I just spent the night inside a cardboard box underneath an underpass! She'll kill me if I don't figure something out soon!]
"Good thing you're fucking immortal then!"
The door groans as they both fight through the door.
[Please! Don't leave me out in the cold Zura-chan! I won't even take a couch! I'll sleep in the bed of the girl with either the best boobs or legs! I'm not a picky man!]
"You're supposed to take the floor in that situation! Asshole!"
[Alright! Bad joke! I get it! You can get the best girl's bed and I'll just take second best!]
"That'll still get this apartment blown to smithereens you shit!"
The door was a military grade blast door so it should have been able to take the punishment but Kumagawa's desire to get in and Hamazura's desire to keep him out was strong enough to begin bending the door from it's frame.
[Fine! Being totally serious right now! I promise to leave your girlfriend, Takisubo-chan, alone! I won't even look in her general direction! Please!]
"Wait. How do you know she's my girlfriend?"
The door gets a reprieve from it's torture.
[Eh? Well when you said her name the other day, it was sort of a dead giveaway in how you said it. You don't normally refer to a girl that isn't as close as she is with the amount of emotion in your voice. But I swear to you, on my honor as a master pervert, that she won't even register in my mind whatsoever as long as I'm under this roof. And any damage done to this place, I will fix with All Fiction. And I'll have Enshuu-chan pay you with the money she makes as a Kihara or whatever!]
His promise to leave Takisubo alone had piqued his interest but the money is what sealed the deal. Kihara's get paid a ludicrous amount of money just for breathing. Plus, even if it isn't caused by Kumagawa's shenanigans, he promised to fix the place for free if anything ever breaks. Which happens more often than one might think. And yes, that's even considering that Hamazura is an ex-member/leader of Skill Out and the others ex-members of ITEM. The money they do make just doesn't cut it when it comes to the near weekly basis that the place gets attacked. Though it's mostly caused by Mugino's Meltdowner firing every which way.
"...Well, as long as you keep to all of that it should be fine."
[YES.]
"But I gotta reinforce this point as a man, no harassing Takisubo. I don't care if you're some immortal that can one shot a guy as powerful as Accelerator and I don't care if I'm just some normal guy. You hurt her, I'll hurt you on principal."
[I wouldn't quite discount 'normal' guys but you have my word, I won't do anything to her that you wouldn't want me doing. We're best friends after all!]
Hamazura lets out a half-laugh, half-sigh. Surprisingly, this was a guy he could get along with.
"Alright," he says opening the door, "Come on in. Oh. Where's Enshuu?"
[She had some stuff to do. I've got a cell now so I can get in contact whenever.]
"Now? Didn't have any before?"
[Hmm. I did but...well I left those behind.]
For a moment, there's a sadness in his eyes but that blinks out as easily as it came.
[Well, can't harass Zura-chan's girlfriend but that doesn't mean the others aren't fair game!]
"Oi-'
He tries stopping him but he's already inside and down the hall.
[Ladies, ladies, ladies! Naked-apron-senpai and Emperor Zura-chan are in the hizzle!]
In hindsight, letting him in wasn't Hamazura's best move.
In under an hour, Kumagawa had been kicked out again.
Not because of Hamazura, mind you. True to his word, he treated Takisubo like a discerning gentleman of dignity ought to. However 10 minutes later, he had acted as a discerning pervert of shamelessness by groping Mugino's ample breasts, massaging and rubbing his face on Saiai's thighs, and putting cat ears on Umidori while licking her navel. All this in the span of less than 2 minutes. Putting on the cat ears is what took the most time. At any rate, after the three had finally got fed up with trying to turn his smiling face into paste, Mugino grabbed the scruff of his neck and threw him through the window.
He had just finished recounting his tale to the two girls sitting across from him, Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko, at the cafe he dropped by. He mostly just felt like unloading his problems onto someone else so he wouldn't have to deal with them and when he saw these two cute, kind girls through the window, he decided they were to be the ones for the job.
[Don't you feel sorry for me? I know I do. Can you please help me?]
Uiharu had just been listening on awkwardly, unsure of how to handle the situation.
Saten, on the other hand, was impressed.
"Holy crap! Did you seriously force one level 5 to crossdress and molest another in the span of a day? On top of messing around with those level 4s, that's pretty incredible! I mean, I've heard rumors of a guy going around the city fighting level 5s but I think you've topped even his legend!"
[Oh thank you, thank you! It was nothing, really!], he laughs shyly, scratching the back of his head.
"...I don't know if that's something to be proud of though," Uiharu sighs as she eats her parfait.
He had pretty much just squeezed his face to the window until they had made the mistake of acknowledging him and from there he's just made himself comfortable at their table.
[SO!], he suddenly exclaims, pounding his hands on the table, [Can I stay with one of you for the time being? I promise I won't take up much space. I'll just be sleeping in your panty drawer after all!]
Saten laughs raucously while Uiharu worries for her friend. She was afraid that she'd give in because she found him interesting and harmless but even someone as naive as Uiharu can tell he's dangerous.
"W-well, sorry to say but we both live in girl's dorms so-"
[Then that's perfect for me!]
She had deeply underestimated how little common sense the man she was dealing with had. Which is why she was relieved when she saw the friends she was meeting her with approach.
"Ah! Misaka-san! Shirai-san! Over here!"
Kumagawa turns to see who it was she was waving down and immediately dittos Uiharu.
[Heya Zappy Dan! It's good to see you too, Kuroko!]
"...Hm? Do you know this wretch, onee-sama?"
"Can't say I do?'
She didn't really understand the nickname he used for Misaka but not once during their conversation had Kuroko's given name been said. Even more danger alarms than she had flowers on her head began going off. But before she could try to subtly warn them, Saten switches sides and has the other two sit. When they caught each other's eye's, Saten only gave Uiharu a secretive thumbs up and serves to exacerbate her condition until she realizes what likely happened. Given that Uiharu has acted more or less withdrawn since he came by, and their friends came by, she probably figured it'd be best for her to sit next to him rather than any of the present company. A good friend but altogether incapable of reading minds, unfortunately.
Misaka, after Kuroko and herself ordered their things, asks, "So who're you anyway? Do we know each other?"
[Not really. Just heard about you and your friend from one of my own. Kind of a tourist here actually.]
"Ehhhh. Kinda an off season for tourists though. What are you here for?"
Uiharu begins to feel elated at the possibility that someone might be able to handle this guy. But then, she remembered that he had manhandled two level 5s today and was here to tell the tale. She became very, very afraid of whatever he was going to do next. Of course, Kumagawa has never been one to fufill people's expectations.
[Hm? Oh I just wanted to make a few friends is all! See, that other friend I told you about, is really shy but I know she wants friends so I wanted to try to introduce her to some girls her own age. She just kinda clings onto me and doesn't really hang out with anyone else because she's afraid of everyone else. I guess I'm just worried for her. She's too shy for me to leave her alone!]
In a research building somewhere in the city, Enshuu feels the shiver of a massive misunderstanding run down her spine.
Misaka smiles, "You really care about her, huh?"
[Yep!]
Everyone else smiles except for Uiharu. She knew he was lying but now she didn't know what to do now that he had convinced Misaka. Then she notices one other person that hadn't smiled at all.
"Hard to believe a wimpy stick of a man like you even has friends."
Everyone makes awkward expressions at Kuroko's open dislike for men, including Uiharu. She felt that was going too far even for a guy like that but the man in question hardly seemed affected.
[Ah! You're right! I'm too much a loser to have friends! You caught me!]
The awkward looks just get worse. Nobody knows how to handle this anymore. It was just too bizarre.
"It's rather rare when a subhuman like you knows their place."
[Yeah, well, nobody is as aware of how much of a failure I am other than myself.]
"Is that so?"
[Uh-huh. OH. Does anyone want to see a magic trick?]
"I doubt-"
Regardless, he takes a fork and sticks the pointed end upright on the table with one hand and waves the other around it. After a moment of circling his hand above it, he smashes his palm down onto it. His eyes go wide as he flails and screams.
[G-GAAAAAAAAH!]
"WHY WOULD YOU- SOMEBODY GET SOME NAPKINS AND CALL AN AMBULANCE!"
Everyone starts fidgeting around aimlessly as Kumagawa raises his two, uninjured, hands.
"Wh-"
[Where did my fork go? Seriously, it was supposed to come out of someone's mouth or something.]
The others watch on, peeved at his tricks yet still interested in more, as he looks around for the fork. Eventually he seems to spot something.
[Ah! It's behind your ear Uiharu-chan!]
"Huh?"
Her face goes bright red as he reaches behind her head and pulls out something. Something not at all shiny, metallic, or in any way shape or form an eating utensil.
[Oh? You keeping spares behind there huh? Always wondered where girls keep theirs at.]
Uiharu's crimson face turns an even deeper shade than what was ever thought possible. What he had pulled out was a string of 15 panties tied from end to end, each of them of separate design and size.
Uiharu nearly passes out from embarrassment, Saten nearly passes out from laughter, Misaka nearly has Kumagawa pass out from being shocked, and Kuroko just sips on her tea.
[O-okay! Clearly that wasn't as much of a hit with some as it was for others. Let's put these in a less conspicuous form shall we?]
Holding them with the panty ends of the chain wrapped on the middle fingers of each hand, he suddenly collapses the lot of them between his hands. As he slowly pulls them apart, there was a plastic bag containing all of them folded neatly in a few rows within them.
"Hey," Misaka mentions with half-lidded, no amusement within, eyes, "You left one out. Right there."
[Oh? But that one isn't one of the ones I prepared. Well, there's a simple way to check I suppose.]
He wads it up in a fist and slams it into the table. When he releases his grip, the panties had disappeared from his grasp.
[Wait a minute. I think I screwed that up a bit.]
His other hand, held a pair of white panties. As held them out, there was the picture of a certain cartoon frog on the rear side. Everyone at the table gasps as they recognize them. Saten's eyes sparkle with the wonder of being around for an urban legend in action. Uiharu peeks through her glued to the face hands. Misaka's face breaks Uiharu's record and nearly becomes an entirely different color altogether. Kuroko's eyes contain nothing but the wishes for the worst things that the world has to offer on him.
Kumagawa notices the last of his female audience and raises the panties above his head with the main opening spread between his hands. Slowly, he walks around to Kuroko and puts the opening just in front of her face.
[DUUUUUN. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN DADADADA DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN. Kuroko has received the frog luchador mask!]
With that, he lets the sides slap down onto Kuroko's cheeks. The bloodlust in her eyes is hardly diminished by her new, or rather used, underwear mask but her ill feelings for him don't do anything for his ever expanding smile either.
[Well, thanks for the company ladies! It's been fun but I'd rather not trouble you all any more than already have. Good day!]
He walks in an almost skipping manner. It's been awhile since he's had this much fun with pretty girls.
In the first place that he had gone to before this one, there was nothing but giant muscle bound dudes all over the place. Though at least he was a fan of the characters that existed there so he didn't have any complaints. The next one had a girl with literal looks that can kill. Fun to mess with but altogether too hard to do so. The one after that, the one before now, was rather uninteresting in terms of powers or things of a supernatural nature and he couldn't find the main character anywhere in that world. Must not have been that popular, he figured.
Now that he was finally able to harass as he pleased, he was at peace with himself. As he walked out the door, he had to dive in between the cars in front of him to avoid the street light pole that nearly flattened him. He slowly gets up from his crouch and immediately ducks down to avoid another swipe as the pole flies directly over him, crashing into the buildings across the street.
"You...dare to touch onee-sama's underwear? You, someone less than dirt, really, truly believes that he has that right?"
From by the tire, he peeked ever so carefully at the source. A teleporting, twintailed, lesbian luchadore.
"You...you…YOU THINK YOU STILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO LIVE?!"
[Hm...I seem to have forgotten some errands I needed to run so I'll have to take a rain-check on all that. Bye bye!]
The joker in black fled across the city and the luchadore followed.
Kumagawa rests his weary body against some steel girders on pallets in a construction yard. Kuroko had been teleporting all sorts of things at him. His only thought at this point was that she's kinda pissed for some reason and wondered why. But the more pressing matter of subduing this girl takes precedence. Though really, a plastic bag could have distracted him from his former train of thought.
He wanted to test his Skills in the ways that Enshuu had suggested that they could be used. Their teacher-student relationship went both ways after all. Kumagawa had taught her all there is about being a Minus as well as the other 'classes', as it were, that their own existed alongside. She on the other hand taught him about the various ways that his Skills can be used as well as all there was to know about the system that espers exist under.
He can't really try out the Bookmaker trick that she thought up but the All Fiction one might be fun to use here. Especially against a teleporter. Speaking of twintailed devils, Kuroko had just teleported to the ground a distance from Kumagawa.
She had taken off the underwear from her face and was still very much so an angry little vessel of wrath. On her arm was the armband of Judgment.
"Did you really think you could hide from me, wretch?"
[Not really. Was just wondering when you were going to catch up!]
"Hmph. It doesn't matter to me. I'm here as Judgment now. You're under arrest."
[Ehhh? Where's your warrant, Miss Rent-a-cop? Where's your probable cause?]
She laughs, "I had it when you stole a middle school girl's underwear."
[EHHH?! That was mine though! She still has hers!]
"...Regardless. I'm taking you in punk. The sentence for something like this is-"
[Oh! Let me guess! Is it 5 minutes in the timeout corner? Or is it a life sentence?]
"No. It's death."
She disappears and then reappears next to another pallet of girders. One by one, they begin to disappear from it. On closer examination, he sees that they're actually being taken in chunks from their original parts. A hailstorm of steel rains down on the spot where he was standing. She couldn't see through the dust cloud she had created but she was sure she had him.
Despite what she said, that wasn't really meant to kill him. It was just a measure to incapacitate him with both fear and the noise caused by all the girders falling down on him. She was about to teleport to where he was so she could pin him down but his clear, confident voice cuts through her concentration.
[Wow, Kuroko-chan! That was pretty cool! Though it is a shame you can't do more than 286 some odd pounds. But that's okay! I can help you train that up!]
In a moment, he had suddenly appeared right in front of her with a fist raised to lay her out. Before she could do anything, he had blinked out existence just as fast as he had come. She darts her head around so much that it gives her a bit of whiplash. Eventually she stops and simply looks around with her eyes, warily.
Then, a powerful blow hits her in the head and launches her through the air, sending her tumbling along the ground. Once she had recovered well enough to think, she feels a shiver down her spine and throws her small body off to the side as a massive blow cracks the earth in the spot where she had been.
[Ow. It's effective and all but this really hurts. I can't quite All Fiction the pain away. I mean, I can but that doesn't mean that I don't still feel it. Oh Well!]
Kumagawa strides out of the resultant cloud with his hands in his pockets.
"A...teleporter?"
[Of a sort I suppose. It's...a bit different fundamentally speaking so I would just call it pseudo-teleportation! Pretty cool though huh?]
He disappears again but she sees him materialize on the wall of a building before he blips out. Catching on, she looks above her and sees a tiny, black dot in the sky. As it winks out, she teleports away to the stack of girders that she found Kumagawa leaning on and begins gathering her arsenal to fire them at the spot where she had been.
[I CAST FIST-huh?]
He had emerged right where she had been expecting him to, another storm of metal crashing down all around him. This time, she didn't wait for him. She puts herself right in front of him after bouncing from the girders. Smaller flashes of metal fly straight for his thighs only for them to pass right through where he had been a moment before. He flies with a dropkick aimed at her back but keeps on flying through that space as she pops up above him with a dropkick of her own. But that too misses.
They continually appear, reappear, materialize, dematerialize, and fly all around their environment with blows, punches, and kicks. Some made their mark but most didn't. To anyone watching, it'd be far too confusing for anyone to follow. Eventually they stand across from one another, exhausted.
"You can somehow decrease the distance between yourself and another spot. But since that doesn't take away from whatever momentum, speed, or force you can build up, you can take full advantage of that by letting yourself freefall for a bit before you attack. How do you survive the impact from the fall though? Someone as weak as you should have been a pancake of flesh on the first one you landed on me."
[...Magician's never reveal the secrets to their tricks you know. Plus, with the system you esper people are under, I doubt you'd believe me if I told you.]
"Still, I don't think you've been using your ability for this sort of thing long enough to have the experience needed to match mine. I'm a level 4 from the prestigious Tokiwodai. Do you really think you can match my skill?"
[Nah. I think I'll just cheat.]
He disappears. She prepares herself for what's to come. But you can hardly prepare for an entire building crashing down on you. For her part, she did well enough to avoid the first one but the second, third, and fourth buildings crush her completely. The catastrophic damage is removed from reality a second later, leaving a stunned Kuroko frozen in place.
[Hey! I got you! Does that mean I get the get-out-of-jail-free card?]
"Wh-what. What just. I-"
[Hmm. Again then I guess?]
"WAIT!"
[Hm? What is it?]
"...How were you able to do that?"
[The Earth is constantly moving through space right? I just used that!]
Kuroko had broken into a cold sweat and was shivering from her trying to contain her fear.
What he said couldn't be true. It had to have been some ability to create illusions. But if all that was just an illusion, then just what was their fight a moment ago? He would have needed an extensive understanding on not just her personality and habits but also the exact calculations required for her to jump between the 3rd dimension into the 11th and back. While not impossible, it's just plain overkill if somebody wanted her dead. There are so many more efficient and easier ways than that. So therefore, wouldn't that mean none of what she had experienced was an illusion?
She grips her forearm until her nails pierce the skin to stop herself from losing her mind to fear.
"Just what the hell are you?"
[A wandering loser. That's all. Nothing to really concern yourself with. But, are you ready to let me go or do you want to continue? I'm fine either way but I've got things to do so I'd appreciate an answer.]
Kuroko unconsciously takes a step back, his eyes narrow like a hawk's at the movement. The ensuing silence tears away at her nerves until Kumagawa lets out an exasperated sigh and scratches the back of his head.
[...So that's your answer then? Alrighty then. I'll see you around Kuroko!]
With that, he walks away.
"Just...just like that?"
[I didn't really want to fight to begin with.]
"Can't exactly trust those words when you've got a face like that."
[It's not my fault I was born this way. But, I usually have fun with these sorts of things anyway. I just needed to test some things out that Enshuu-chan taught me and you just happened along. That's all.]
"Enshuu-chan? What are-"
[Don't worry about it. Just go back to that bugzapper-neesama you love so much and forget about little old me. It's better for you this way.]
And so they go their separate ways. Kumagawa to wander around some more and Kuroko to go rest for awhile. For Kuroko, this is likely the last time she'll have to deal with things from his side but as for Kumagawa, his fight against the science of this world was just beginning today.
On a nearby rooftop, she giggles at the battle she had witnessed, "Well now. I certainly wasn't expecting that kind of a show ", her expression hardens, "But just what the hell was that chairman thinking, sending in a girl like me? I'm confident in my abilities but against whatever that was...haaah. The things I do for love."
An hour earlier and a few hundred feet away…
Shokuhou Misaki had been sitting with her followers at an outdoor restaurant when a man appeared out of thin air. Wearing a helmet that covered his entire body and a cheap, black suit, he sits across from her. No one else other than her seems to notice him but she doesn't make a big deal out of it. She lets their conversation lead to it's natural end before she sends them away using Mental Out.
"...So, what does the esteemed chairman want with me? Is he mad over my business with the Daihaseisai?"
"Hardly. This is something of...an alliance. Both of your interests align right now and it's also believed that you would be the perfect fit for eliminating an obstruction to your shared interest."
She sips on her tea absentmindedly.
"Is that so? Well, you can tell him that I politely decline because what I'd actually say to that would be far too rude and hurtful for you to fully reiterate, I'm sure "
The man laughs, "Yes, he expected as much. Frankly speaking, he doesn't honestly believe you can handle this situation, if only because I'm sure he can't either, but he has been...advised by someone else that you can absolutely do it."
"Is that supposed to provoke me into accepting? You'll have to do better than that mystery man."
"And what if I told you that shared interest was a certain, spiky-haired prince?"
Her cup stops short of her mouth and she puts it down, gently but firmly. In an instant, all the customers and staff at the restaurant had various cutlery aimed at the helmeted man's neck. Misaki draws a remote from her bag and sets it on the table in the same manner as the cup of tea.
"...Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"
It was hard to tell due to the helmet, perhaps it was a different story under there, but from what it seemed, he was perfectly calm.
"Again, hardly. That line was the one I had been instructed to use in provoking you. Seems to have brought some results at least."
She offers nothing in reply other than a steely gaze.
"Well, at any rate, that wasn't a threat towards that boy. Rather, the obstacle I spoke of is the threat."
The steel dulls slightly but the edge doesn't go anywhere.
"What are you talking about?"
The man slides a picture of a rather bland looking high school student over to her.
"The details aren't exactly known to me. Here's what I do know, an immortal named Kumagawa Misogi has entered the city and his goals, whatever they may be, will lead to this city's destruction. Though, I was told that was the best case scenario."
"Immortal? I'm seriously considering letting them loose on you and walk away, you know."
"Yes...I'm not too certain on the specifics on that either. Please understand, I'm just a negotiating messenger here. My purpose is to relay the information I was given and convince you to go along with the wishes of the ones that sent me. No more or less than that."
She lifts her cup and takes another sip.
"...And is my motivation just to kill a man I don't know because he might destroy Academy City? Just because it might involve that prince of mine? Do you realize how vague this all is?"
"No, though that is a part of the problem. The issue is that the two of them will cross paths and it is very likely that when it happens, Kumagawa Misogi will kill Kamijou Touma in exactly 0.5 seconds."
"Even if that's the case, how does the chairman, or whomever advised him, expect me to kill someone that's supposedly immortal? Why not just send the number 1 after him? I'm sure-"
"That's been tried already."
The cup goes down again and she picks up the remote, tapping it against her head.
"Then as I asked before, how do expect me to handle him if that brute genius can't do anything about it? I'm starting to run out of patience here."
"Sorry. As far as that goes, I was only told that your Mental Out ability was the only one that could possibly kill him."
She sighs, "Whatever. I'm not doing it so hurry up and get out of here."
"Maybe you've mistaken what I had said before. You, currently, are the only plan to stop Kumagawa Misogi. If you refuse, he will advance toward his goal. The closer he gets, the higher the odds of him meeting Kamijou Touma. When they do meet, he will try to stop Kumagawa and fail. Fatally. Your refusal means letting that boy die. I realize things aren't exactly clear...they weren't as forthcoming with that sort of information as to my liking. But, please. The one thing that was stressed to me was that your inaction here will result in catastrophe."
She remains silent, even as the man leaves and she sends the staff and customers back to what they were doing. Of course, most of that had just been for show. As much as she hates the idea of it, she can't just stand in the sidelines when Kamijou Touma is involved. Though, she needs more information, regarding to how strong her opponent is. She remains deep in thought as she drinks her tea. She brings her cup back to the table, accidentally knocking over the remote she left there to add to the mental pressure she wanted to lay on that mystery man.
As she leans down to pick it up, a physical pressure whirls over her and crashes against the wall of the restaurant. She warily peeks up over the bushes next to her and sees a boy being hunted after by a teleporting middle schooler that she vaguely recognized as being the overly clingy friend of the other level 5 at her school. They both became a mere blur racing down the street but she had caught the boy's face long enough to know that it was the same one from the picture.
"Hmm. Guess I'll just have to guide them somewhere I can watch comfortably from afar then "
It had been a short while since she had led those two into the construction yard. Her analysis of the fight was that it'd be pointless to try to get close to him. He's far too agile for her to handle. Never mind whatever that was he did with the buildings at the end. He did give something of a clue at the end of the fight however.
"He had to have been talking about Kihara Enshuu. Geeze , I really don't want to have to deal with another Kihara after that old man. Oh well. Hopefully since she's a little girl it'll be alright but...well if she's involved with that Kumagawa guy then I doubt she's alright in the head. Though given that she's a Kihara, I suppose that's a no-brainer."
She had sent a message out to her followers to look for Enshuu by asking if any of them recognized the girl in a picture she sent out to all of them, explaining that she was trying to help the girl's mother find her runaway daughter. They found her surprisingly fast. Being a social queen bee helps quite a bit.
The next step was to get her followers away by saying that it wasn't the right girl and sending in some espers under her suggestion to go capture the little Kihara. She figured that the job should only need 20 to take her. She waits in the lobby of a fancy hotel where traveling businessmen and rich tourists stay at, drinking tea and reading a magazine she picked up from the table next to her. She hears some of the people there begin to murmur but she pays it no mind.
It should have been easy.
A body, on of the ones under her suggestion, slamming onto the coffee table finally gets her attention dragged from her reading.
Turns out it was a little easier getting her there than she could have expected.
A bloodied Kihara Enshuu stands on the other side of the table with a broken baseball bat in tow.
"You're a difficult woman to find. Misaki-chan."
"And you're not, little Kihara But let's cut the chit-chat and get to business."
She attempts to offer Enshuu a seat but she ignores it, preferring to stand. Misaki shrugs her shoulders in a way that said 'it doesn't matter' and drank some more tea before she spoke again.
"First of all, you know Kumagawa Misogi?"
Nothing lights up in Enshuu's passionless eyes.
"Yes? No? Maybe? I don't know? Well I won't bother repeating myself. I've been sent to kill that boy."
"…Good luck then."
Misaki laughs, "What? I thought you were friends?"
"We are. But you can't kill him. Not permanently."
"Oh? But I was told by somebody that I could kill that supposed immortal."
"Is that so? Either way, he's too weak to be killed by you."
"Too weak? Whatever, I wanted to ask you about him because I wanted a bigger picture on how to beat him. Doubt I could kill him otherwise."
Enshuu raises an eyebrow, "And how do you hope to accomplish that?"
Misaki clicks on the remote she was hiding behind the magazine, "Catagory 011: Kihara Enshuu will answer all my questions truthfully and accurately "
"No. I don't think so."
Misaki was rather taken aback by this, after all she wasn't wearing any kind of defensive measure to protect herself from her power. Though, she was just a middle school girl. Adults may not be able to have esper powers but children definitely could.
"...A mind control ability?"
"Not exactly but...Kumagawa-oniichan said not to reveal things to opponents like some cheap Saturday morning villain. Well, I guess it doesn't matter since you can't exactly do anything about it. I was given an ability to take half of what makes my opponent the person they are by Kumagawa-oniichan. Since you're his opponent, that makes you my opponent. I can now borrow half of your power among other aspects."
"Half of my power?"
"Yes. Kumagawa-oniichan said not to explain it too many times or the readers will get annoyed by the story being bogged down in repetitiveness. Whatever that means."
Even at the beginning she felt this was way above what she could handle but this is just the icing on the cake. If what she said was true, Kumagawa was an immortal, superhuman, power granter. This all is incredibly ridiculous to her.
"So who sent you to kill him?"
"The chairman."
Misaki was a bit deflated at this point since it was her that was supposed to be asking the questions here but at least she might get something for her troubles here.
"Aleister-kun? Why?"
"It was mentioned that he was going to kill someone I know."
"I was asking why Aleister-kun wanted him dead but-"
"Same answer either way."
"Then who is it?", she asks with slits for eyes.
"Kamijou Touma."
Now her eyes go wide.
"Touma-oniichan?"
"I'm beginning to suspect you just add those familiar type of honorifics for fun.
"Why does he think that Kumagawa-oniichan will kill Touma-oniichan?"
"I guess that proves it but you're ignoring my comments so I'll move on They think that when they meet, due to whatever that Kumagawa guy is going to do, he will kill Kamijou without fail apparently."
"Hn. That makes sense. He would try to stop Kumagawa-oniichan and probably get beat up quite a bit but...well I guess that's besides the point. Since I'm not going to give you the information you need and you can't force it out, that means you can't do a thing right? Give it up."
Enshuu tosses the broken bat handle onto the table and starts to walk away.
"Oh? What if I said letting me beat that oniichan of yours is what's best for him?"
She stops but keeps her back turned.
"I don't really feel like killing anyone but if it's for Kamijou-"
"Stop it already. I can tell you care for him more than you're letting on so there's no need to fake it by referring to him by his family name."
"...If it's for Touma, I'm more than willing to do everything short of killing Kumagawa."
Enshuu half-turns toward her, "And why would helping you be good for him?"
"I may not know about what he's trying to do but from what I hear, it could destroy this city. What will happen to him after that? Even if he survives it, where will he go? You might not be able to see him again depending on what happens "
She stays quiet for a time, lost in thought. Misaki allows her to stew on the words. She can tell that she had won her over. Though a lot of that was lies. She was just lucky she only caught onto her use of her hero's family name rather than him being able to live. That part wasn't in her control. If she could negate or shut off his powers, then the city's dark side will take care of things from there. She would try to see that he lives but odds of that happening are next to nil.
"...Hn. Hn. You would want me to help her like that, wouldn't you?", she mutters under her breath.
Misaki was on the verge of asking about it but Enshuu had come back to the table.
"I'll help you. On one condition."
Misaki wanted the Kihara's help but that's exactly what had her so on guard after her sudden 180.
"Okay What's the condition?"
"You have to see to it that he dies. Permanently."
Sorry it took a little bit for this update. I had a bit of a block that needed dislodging. But more than likely this will be the rate for updates, unfortunately. Enshuu isn't so much of a traitor as she is mentally unstable so don't expect too much there. In fact, her direct involvement in this story arc will be kept to a minimum since she isn't really important to this part right now. Also don't expect anything from mystery man. Doubt I'll use him as anything more than just a glorified messenger of Big Al's personal use or if it'll even be the same person every time. Anyway, the next chapter will have Misaki fighting Kumagawa on some Freudian-type levels! Well, after a fight or two of course.
